To write a history of opiate use with special reference to dependence on this drug. It will survey the history from its earliest beginnings until the recent past largely through the use of secondary sources but with special effort to determine and confirm the basis on which the sources have developed their information. Besides satisfying the intellectual curiosity of specialists in the field and the interested non-specialists, it is hoped that through an understanding of the historical background of this subject, more rational determinations can be made of the nature of use of opiates and other drugs and hopefully, that more rational policies can be promulgated thereby.